Is my SSD dying?

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Batmann77

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Dec 2, 2013
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The SSD in question is a SeaGate ST120HM000 120GB. Not really sure how old it is. Maybe 5 years absolute tops.

The past 2-3 days, I've been unable to access contents on the drive on multiple occasions. I store all my video games on that hard drive. Sometimes I will go to play a game by clicking a shortcut, and it says it can't find it. So i'll go into my SSD, and there will be nothing in any of the folders. I restart the computer and I can access it again, and all the files are back.

Other times, like today, my SSD was not visible at all. I went into disk management and I got a popup saying that I needed to select a partition type for the disk in question. Assuming that that would have wiped everything on the drive, I closed, it and turned off the computer. I unplugged the SSD and plugged it back in, and now I can see everything as normal.

Checking event viewer the other day, I found many hundreds of warnings, all for these two events:

Event 51 "An error was detected on device \Device\Harddisk0\DR0 during a paging operation."

Event 140 "The system failed to flush data to the transaction log. Corruption may occur in VolumeId: G"

Today there is a new one. Event 129 "Reset to device, \Device\RaidPort0, was issued"

So there's clearly something going on with this drive, but I've no real way of telling if it's hardware or software related. I have other SSDs and HDs in my PC, and they're all fine....so it's looking like this SSD may be dying.

One thing to mention, is that this started happening after I updated my BIOS.

Any help is appreciated. Kind regards,

Jimmy.
 
Solution
Darkbreeze
Yes, a header is any grouping of pins on a motherboard where something plugs in. The four pin PWM headers are where the fans plug in. Sometimes they are 3 pin voltage controlled. The sockets where drives are connected are the SATA headers. The sockets where your front panel USB connects are the USB headers. Etc., etc.

I'd disconnect all other drives except the drive the operating system is on, and see if there is still an issue. If there is, I'd try plugging that drive into a different SATA header. Always plug and unplug with the power off, of course.
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So, this is why we ALWAYS try to overstate the idea that it's not just a good idea, but should be a fundamental necessity, that any important files, games, or anything of else of importance should always, at all times, be in more than one location. Either a secondary drive for backups, a copy somewhere on the cloud, copy all the data to CDs, DVDs or Blu ray optical disks, something.

If you can access that data at all, and get the information on it copied over to a safe location, wherever that might be, do it now.

Then, download and run Seatools for windows. Install it and run the short drive self test (DST). IF it passes that, then run the Long generic test. If it passes both of those, then it's ok and there is another problem like a bad cable. Might be a good idea to try another SATA cable FIRST, before doing this, to eliminate an unnecessary process in case it's just a cable problem. Also, make sure none of the cables have come loose somehow.

If you are unable to copy the data over to another drive, then it's probably going to be a rather tough learning experience. Always keep two copies of EVERYTHING likely to make you sad if you were to lose it.
 
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Having been around the block, so to speak, with PCs, I backed up my data the first time it happened. So all good on that front. I ran SeaTools, and the SSD passed both the short drive self test and the long generic test. So I guess I will swap out my SATA cable (I think I have some spare) and see what happens. I'll report back tomorrow. Thanks for your help so far.
 
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Good deal. I cringe every time somebody on here loses all their files, and that happens about four times a week just in threads I happen to participate in. So glad that's not the case with you.

If swapping out the cable doesn't work, try a different SATA header. Could be a failing storage controller or just a bad header. No other drives have issues, just this one?
 
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Is a SATA header just the SATA port on the motherboard? No other drives have issues what so ever. I have 5 other drives and they're all functioning correctly.
 
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Yes, a header is any grouping of pins on a motherboard where something plugs in. The four pin PWM headers are where the fans plug in. Sometimes they are 3 pin voltage controlled. The sockets where drives are connected are the SATA headers. The sockets where your front panel USB connects are the USB headers. Etc., etc.

I'd disconnect all other drives except the drive the operating system is on, and see if there is still an issue. If there is, I'd try plugging that drive into a different SATA header. Always plug and unplug with the power off, of course.
 
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Solution


I'll monitor the drive, and see how it goes over the next few days. If all goes well, I'll come back and mark this as solved.
 
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I have just done some testing with cables. I tried plugging 2 different spare SATA cables into the one free SATA header I have left, and the drive did not show up with either cable.

I plugged the SSD back into it's original header with the original cable to make sure something hadn't happened to the drive in the mean time, and it showed up again. So I then tried a different cable on the original header, and it shows up as well.

So....first off, I think I have one dead SATA header? And two....if this doesn't fix my issue, I don't think I have many other options, considering all my other SATA headers are taken.

 
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Maybe not THIS exact model, but something like this could be an option.

https://www.amazon.com/IO-Crest-2-port-Controller-SY-PEX40039/dp/B005B0A6ZS

Have you tried disconnecting every drive except the OS drive and this problem drive, and then trying the problem drive on all of the remaining SATA headers? It could be you are running into a problem with a lack of lanes if you have other hardware installed in any of the PCI slots other than the primary x16 slot, or if you have an M.2 drive installed. Just a thought. Sometimes some SATA headers are disabled if you use other hardware but since this all worked fine before I assume, that's probably doubtful unless something changed or was added.

A new motherboard might be in your future as often when one header fails, others follow in short order, or it's because a capacitor or something else has been damaged, and a chain of problems could pop up.
 
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Your post reminded me that I actually have a spare external SATA to USB plug that I could try. That being said, since I plugged in a different SATA cable yesterday, I haven't had any problems....yet. If I run into the issue again, I will try the external. Either way, I'll report back again in a few days time.
 
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